


Just Like the Good 'Ole Days

by thatfamoushappyending (betsytheoven)



Series: Check, Please! Tumblr Ficlets [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anxiety, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 10:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4218615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betsytheoven/pseuds/thatfamoushappyending
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first team to extend an offer to Jack is the Las Vegas Aces. Jack panics.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Like the Good 'Ole Days

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by the prompt:
> 
> the aces were one of the first teams to make an offer to jack (since kent kept talking him up to the GMs), even though they’d have to adjust for cap space, but he politely declined

Kent Parson honestly believed that he was Jack’s #3 fan, even after everything that had happened (he knows that Jack’s parents will always be Jack’s top two fans). Kitt Purrson was #4.

In an effort to prove his everlasting faith in the awkward kid who managed to trip into a wall when he saw a talent scout in the bleachers, Kent convinced his team’s GMs that Jack Zimmermann was the best hockey player not currently in the NHL. He “accidentally” left videos of Jack’s games open on YouTube so the GMs would see it, and he casually mentioned Jack’s stats anytime management was close by. 

But what really convinced the Aces to extend to Jack his first NHL offer, was everything that Kent said about Jack’s personality.

He went on and on about Jack’s adoration of his teammates, how he adopted his linemates as family, how he shouldered every loss as his fault, and forced himself to do better from there. He was a good captain, if not a good friend, and Kent knew what the NHL meant to Jack so the guy would probably be in game-mode 24/7 once he was on a team. Any team would be lucky to have him, and Kent practically wrote sonnets about Jack to convince the Aces that Jack is worth any hassle of adjusting the team lineup. 

He never mentioned Jack's flaws, because the team already knew about Jack's past. They knew what had happened and Kent didn't want them thinking of his old best friend like that when they could be thinking about how he led his mediocre hockey team to the Playoff Finals.  
  
Maybe Kent thought it would be like the good old days. All of the problems between them… Jack just needed to get out on the ice with him to see. He would see that they were still a match made in Hockey Heaven. Then it would be like the draft never happened and Jack’s Mistake never happened.   
  
So when news broke in the locker room that the Aces had officially extended an offer for Jack Zimmermann to play in Las Vegas, Kent took it as a step towards moving past all of the… whatever had happened since Kent got drafted and Jack didn’t.

* * *

 

The day Jack found out that the Aces wanted him to play for them, he panicked. 

The idea of being on the ice with Kent again took Jack’s breath away in the worst way possible. All he could think about were the newspaper headlines heralding the triumph of Rookie Parson and scorning the fallen player, a now has-been, the Other Zimmermann. 

He attempted to call his parents a few times, but always cut off the ringing tone before it had rung more than once. It was Lardo who found him, not more than an hour after he received the email. She scanned the email that was still open on his computer, before sitting down next to him on the floor against his bed.   
  
She didn’t say anything, but she leaned on Jack just enough that he had to lean back against her to stay upright. Before he knew if, she was completely supporting Jack’s weight, and he just hoped she didn’t start talking about how lucky he was to get to play with Kent Parson again. The guy had been Jack’s best friend, but he hadn’t treated Jack like a friend in years. 

“The Aces, huh?”  
  
Jack nodded, very softly. His shaking was minimal, but Lardo picked up on it anyway and hummed softly, causing her whole frame to vibrate ever so slightly with him. 

“That’s a long drive for Bits and I to make…”

Jack sighed, he hadn’t expected the team to attend a lot of games, but she was right. Las Vegas was too far of a drive to make for a game, so Jack was suddenly trying to figure out how to make the most of the few times he would get to see his best friends if he only was nearby for away games. 

“I seem to recall that a certain captain owes me a favor,” Lardo smirked up at the ceiling, “And I think I want to cash in on it to convince you to wait to sign with a team that is a more manageable drive for those of us stuck here at Samwell, like the Falconers, or the Rangers… or the Habs, or the Lightnings…”  
  
Jack raised his eyebrows at the girl because she was suggesting Canada or Tampa Bay as _close_ teams? They were hardly an easy drive from Samwell, and he didn’t even know if another team would extend an offer to him. She shrugged her shoulders softly, seeming rather convinced that another team would come Jack’s way. She was telling him, in the weird way that they communicated, to reject the Aces’ offer as a favor to her. She was giving him an out.

With a soft grunt, she nudged Jack into a sitting position so she could stand up. Before she retreated from his room and made her way towards whatever that delicious smell was that was coming from the kitchen, she turned and fixed Jack with a stern glare.

“We won’t let you go to the Aces if you don’t want to, Jack.”

Jack sighed and with a very small but thankful smile, he nodded and shooed the girl off. He closed out the email and followed Lardo downstairs to steal whatever Bittle was baking before it could cool. 

  
  
The next day, the Falconers extended an offer to Jack to play in Providence. He texted his dad that he was planning on declining the Aces’ offer, now that there was at least one other team that wanted him, and he called Jack immediately.   
  
“The coaches in Providence are top-notch.” His dad barely even waited for Jack to answer before he started speaking.  
  
“They’re better in Las Vegas.” Jack countered.

“Ehhh… that’s debatable. Besides, I think you’ll be much happier with the weather in Providence. Las Vegas has horrible weather.”  
  
Jack actually pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at the phone incredulously.   
  
“Papa… are you... encouraging me to sign with the Falconers?”   
  
His father laughed into the other side of the line, “Yes, son I am trying to. Why do you ask?”  
  
“You don’t… you won’t… the Aces are a better team.”   
  
“Jack, didn’t you just text me to say you want to decline their offer?”   
  
“Oui, Papa.”   
  
“Then decline it. I don’t want you signing somewhere that you wanted to decline almost immediately, despite you wanting to play in the NHL for ages. Just pick wherever makes you happiest, that’s where I want you to play most. Ok, son?”   
  
Jack was smiling ever so slightly when he hung up, and while he emailed his agent to decline the Aces’ offer, and still when he went downstairs to join the rest of the team.   
  
“Jack! You have to try these, Bits made fucking apple pie  _fries_! He is a god among men!” Shitty shoved one at Jack as soon as he walked into the kitchen, immediately knocking the tension out of Jack’s shoulders. 

The apple fries were great, but everyone’s faces when he told them he already declined (very politely of course, he assured Bittle) the offer from the Aces. They cheered and Bitty almost forgot about his cookies in the oven in celebrating Jack’s decision.

It was perfect. 

Jack was happy.


End file.
